Jessica's Law

[Froggie899]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Texas & Alabama.
Basically I lived with my aunt & uncle for almost 4years. I moved in with them 5 months before my 13th birthday and moved out 6 months after my 16th birthday. The abuse began almost immediately, emotional, physical & sexual. When I was 16 we moved to Alabama from Texas, and I finally shared with someone the abuse that I suffered. That was in 1987. I was forced to sign a letter at that time saying that I made it all up. I have just been told about Jessica's Law, and wanted to know what the statue of limitations was for bringing charges against them, 21 years later.

[aardvarc]

It's going to depend on what exact statutes they would be charged with violating - some might be misdemeanors and others felonies. The SOL's can vary, and would be based on the classification of crimes in existance at the time of the actions, NOT the laws as they are in place today (so looking up today's statutes isn't necessarily going to provide an accurate answer since statutes concerning sexual crimes against minors have changed dramatically in the last 10 years). That said, it's best to report to authorities and let the prosecutors do the leg work to figure out applicable charges and SOL issues - that's not the victim's job or responsibility.

Who did you initially report to?

How were you made to sign a letter saying it was all made up?

You should be aware however that while it is certainly POSSIBLE for criminal cases this old to be pursued, such cases are the exception rather than the norm. After 21 years, unless there is a confession in some form, or VAST amounts of coorobating circumstances/witnessses, etc., prosecutors are left with little or nothing to work with except statements by the victim - and that's not enough to garner a conviction.

[Froggie899]

Thank you for your response. I reported it to a teacher, who reported it to the local authoritites. Alabama's version of CPS came, and took my report. I was not allowed to go back to the house. My mother who was living in Texas at the time, came to Alabama to get me. There was a huge fight, and accusations flew, and it boiled down to my mother forcing me to sigh a letter saying that I maed it all up because I wanted to live with her again. I was 16 and basically told do this, or you have no place to live. So I signed it. The charges would include physical abuse, sexual molestation and emotional abuse. All 3 occured in both Texas and Alabama.

[aardvarc]

"Emotional abuse, physical abuse and sexual molestation" aren't exact charges. They are an overall umbrella. An EXACT charge might be "Battery on a Minor", "Failure to Protect", "Criminal Neglect", "Aggrevated Sexual Battery of a Minor" or "Lewd Conduct with a Minor", or "Terroristic Threats". Again, there are a LOT of different classifications for what you are calling physical abuse and sexual molestation and those charges often have misdemeanor or felony levels. The exact charges can't be determined until you sit down with law enforcement and/or prosecutors and give them exact details about what exact activities occurred AND they go back to the laws on the books at the time these activites occurred to see what EXACT charges might fit.

This process would need to occur in both states, but start with Alabama if possible since there was CPS involvement there.

To help with this whole process, you might consider contacting your local rape crisis center and asking if they have a legal advocate who can help you to contact the proper authorities in the right jurisdictions and provide additional information or support.

[Froggie899]

Thank you for the advice. I do not know the legal terms, so I used the most common terms I knew.